Got this from a buddy…Ken…who really knows his baseball (and other sports) trivia.

The Yankees have had their outfielders bat 7th, 8th and 9th – in a row – in their line-up more than a few times this year. The thought is that the all-time record for “this” is 27 – by the Baltimore Orioles in 2004.

The Yankees could blast past that mark before the All-Star break this year…

Do you just say whatver to get comments? The Yankee outfield is not the problem, Nick Johnson, Randy Winn and Sergio Mitre are the problems. These guys are the perfect example of bad Yankee free agent signings, old over the hill players who have nothing left. Joe Girardi is a problem for not knowing that when a guy can not hit you move them down the order out of 2nd and 3rd to 6th and 7th or that the fastest guy in baseball needs to lead off your line up not bat 9th.

The Yankee outfield is not the problem, Nick Johnson, Randy Winn and Sergio Mitre are the problems. These guys are the perfect example of bad Yankee free agent signings, old over the hill players who have nothing left. Joe Girardi is a problem for not knowing that when a guy can not hit you move them down the order out of 2nd and 3rd to 6th and 7th or that the fastest guy in baseball needs to lead off your line up not bat 9th.

You what Joe Girardi knows and you don’t?
1) You don’t judge a veteran that quickly off a sample of a small number of games, especially when that veteran has a long track record of hitting in the major leagues that’s a lot better than he’s hitting at the moment.
2) Pure speed is NOT the single most important ingrediant for a leadoff hitter, getting on base is, especially when the speedy hitter in question has a relatively short track record in the majors, and his ability to hit well is not certain. The fastest guy in your lineup bats leadoff if, and only if, he can show he can get on base at a high rate, consistently.

Other things:
1) Neither Sergio Mitre nor Nick Johnson is “old”. Whether Mitre will ever make a substantial contribution…there’s reason to doubt that, but he’s the last man on a 12-man staff. He’s fungible. Johnson may not hit as well as the Yankees projected, but it’s still only 15 games. There’s 147 games left, and no need to rush a decision for another month or two. They might move him down soon, I suppose.

2) None of the 3 players you cited as “perfect example of bad Yankee free agent signings”, because they’re all signed for only this season, and none of them are making preposterous money. These signings, no matter how bad these players play, will be anywhere near as disastrous as, say, Carl Pavano turned out to be.

3) The idea that Tex should be dropped to 6th on the basis of 10-15 bad games is just…well, silly. If this goes on with him for another 10-15 games, then, maybe, maybe, he’ll be moved.

4) Complaining about like there are serious problems with a team that’s 11-4 is just…well, silly, as well.

It’s funny – I was on my regular South Florida radio gig, and the host brought up this 7-8-9 stat. He asked me who else had done it, and I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head. Now I have an answer, though!